Kymeta: Bringing the MSA-T Invention to Market

We are proud to announce our new spinout company Kymeta, which will take our MSA-T on to commercialization and full-scale product development.

Here at Intellectual Ventures Lab we work on the very beginning stages of invention, nurturing an idea to prove that it can work and demonstrating its potential. We conduct research to prove the concept of an invention and refine the technology through early stage development. Although we don’t commercialize products ourselves, we play an important role in carrying inventions to a point where they can be licensed, sold or spun-out into a separate company.

Unlike traditional university or corporate research facilities, the lab specializes in proof-of-concept work and Metamaterials Surface Antenna Technology (MSA-T) is a great example of this invention model. Since 2004, We have been exploring the potential of metamaterials – a new class of materials engineered to have properties not found in nature. For example metamaterials can manipulate incoming electro-magnetic radiation such as light or radio waves and redirect them.

Through a close collaboration with pioneers in the field, including Duke University’s center for Metamaterials and Integrated Photonics and Imperial College’s Center for Plasmonics & Metamaterials, our portfolio in metamaterials has evolved. In 2010, we invited metamaterial expert, Nathan Kundtz, PhD to look through our portfolio and to work with our business development team to identify promising applications. But we didn’t stop there, we began a focused effort to develop and mature the technology. Lead by Nathan, our team at the Lab has spent two years designing and testing prototype MSA-T antennas to demonstrate the invention’s potential.

Our effort paid off.

We are proud to announce our new spinout company Kymeta, which will take our MSA-T on to commercialization and full-scale product development. Kymeta is the result of almost a decade of investment in the field of metamaterials and the innovation and research that takes place at the Lab.

One of the first applications of MSA-T will be to develop user terminals for high capacity satellites, serving communications-on-the-move customers in aeronautical, maritime and land transport markets. Kymeta expects the technology to be available for use in 2015 – just in time to take advantage of new high capacity satellites being deployed over the next few years. You can check out all the details at kymetacorp.com.